


from glances to traces

by atemzug



Category: BTOB
Genre: Almost Substance, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Light Angst, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, POV Alternating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:35:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23229484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atemzug/pseuds/atemzug
Summary: The glances from yesterday are the traces of today.
Relationships: Lee Minyuk/Jung Ilhoon
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4
Collections: Les Astres: BTOB Fic Exchange





	from glances to traces

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jijal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jijal/gifts).



> written for **les astres round 1: melancholy**
> 
> dearest alexa, first off, thank u for agreeing to do this with me! getting to do this exchange with you made me so happy :( second, sajhas this fic makes some sense in my head but i'm not too sure if it does.. outside.. my head.... STILL i really hope you like it! lastly, i can't wait for our next round! i promise i'll try harder to come up with something better for you hehe
> 
> as with all the works on this account. this one stops at Almost Substance, but i hope you at the very least still enjoy reading!
> 
> ps: happy anniversary btob! <3

"Great work today," someone calls from behind Ilhoon, patting him on the shoulder. It's Lee Minhyuk, senior model at the agency where Ilhoon's been working for over a year now.

Ilhoon swallows thickly. "Thanks, hyung," he replies. He hasn't been here that long when Minhyuk told him he could address him informally.

"Shoots with you are always the best," Minhyuk adds, offering a playful wink before heading the other way.

Ilhoon lets out a sigh. He hates how Minhyuk always makes him feel nervous whenever they have shoots together. It's never like this for the other models; all of them, Ilhoon has no problem shooting with. It's just with Minhyuk that he always feels the need to be conscious of everything-- every pose, every contact, every touch, every breath.

It wasn't always like this, either. Ilhoon still remembers the very first shoot he had with Minhyuk. Everyone around him was excited, even the makeup artists and photographers, and back then he didn't really understand why. He knew who Minhyuk was, because how could he not when every model he met talked about _the Lee Minhyuk_ and about how lucky Ilhoon was for getting the chance to shoot with him. Ilhoon just scoffed at them, rolled his eyes, moved on to his shoot with the ease and arrogance he'd used to get into this agency. There was nothing special about that shoot, too, Ilhoon once thought; aside from Minhyuk asking him to talk casually, nothing else really happened.

It's when they had their third shoot together that Ilhoon started getting nervous. "Ah," Minhyuk greeted him as soon as he'd entered the set. "If it isn't my favorite partner."

There was something about the way Minhyuk said those words, accompanied by the way he licked his lips and his eyes seemed to burn through Ilhoon's clothes.

A couple more photoshoots later and here Ilhoon is, still unsure of what to make of every flirty glance and electric touch. In this line of work, anyway, being too close and touchy with other people is inevitable. Besides, it's not like anything more's ever happened between them, anyway, and it's not like they ever really saw each other outside of sets, save for passing each other by the hallways on their way to different photo shoots, barely even sparing each other glances.

So when later, while Ilhoon's out drinking with his friends and he's already had a little too much to drink, and he sees Minhyuk in the corridor leading to the comfort rooms, he comes up to the latter without thinking.

"Hyung!" he greets, slinging an arm across Minhyuk's shoulder.

"Oh-- Ilhoonie?" Minhyuk replies, his arm automatically snaking its way around Ilhoon's waist, sending electricity through the younger's spine. "Having fun, aren't we?"

"I'm with Sungjae," Ilhoon slurs. "But he's off somewhere with-- I forgot her name."

Minhyuk laughs, tightening his grip around Ilhoon's waist and leading him to the bar. "Come on," he says directly into Ilhoon's ear, dangerously close that Ilhoon shivers at the feeling of the other's breath against his skin. "I'll buy you a drink."

"Okay," Ilhoon agrees easily, against better judgment, even though he's already pretty drunk and obviously doesn't need any more alcohol.

Minhyuk easily finds them seats, and he spares no time in ordering drinks. The bartender only looks at him and smiles, not even waiting for his order. Ilhoon's mind is already too hazy to notice that maybe this has happened too many times before, that maybe Minhyuk's already brought too many people to this exact same spot, bought them the exact same drinks from the exact same bartender. But what does Ilhoon care, anyway? Minhyuk's buying him a drink, and maybe, if he doesn't get flat out drunk, he can finally ask what all the glances and touches meant.

"So..." Minhyuk drawls, the rim of his glass dancing along his lips. He stares at Ilhoon with a mischievous glint in his eyes, reflecting a thousand neon lights. "Your friend gonna drive you home?"

"I--" Ilhoon struggles to think straight. Is his friend driving him home? Where is-- what's his friend's name again? Wait, he came here with a friend? Not with Minhyuk? "I don't know."

Minhyuk chuckles. "Maybe we should look for him, yeah?"

"No." Ilhoon grabs the other's arm, almost knocking his half empty glass over. "No, let's stay here for a while, hyung."

"Yeah?"

Ilhoon nods.

"Or we could get out of here," Minhyuk suggests. "What do you say?"

  
  
  


⟹⟹⟹⟹

  
  
  


"Minhyuk-hyung?" a voice calls out, making Minhyuk turn his head abruptly

"Ilhoon?" He squints, trying to see through the cloudiness of his eyes, accompanied by the attack of a thousand flashing lights. "Is that you?"

"Hyung!" Ilhoon beams at him, his smile a million times brighter than all the lights inside the bar combined. He starts saying something, it sounds like a question, but the music's too loud and the world's already spinning a little and Minhyuk's head is throbbing.

"Hey, I, uh--" he cuts the younger off. "I don't think this is the right time to talk."

"Oh," Ilhoon's lips read. "Sorry, I--."

"I'm gonna go, yeah?" Minhyuk almost yells. "Gotta pee."

He doesn't wait for the other to answer before he's making his way to the comfort room, where everything started spiraling down.

If Minhyuk were asked what went wrong, he'd answer that he fell in love. He was never meant to. He was just supposed to play with the new model-- and he _was_ just playing, at least for a while. It was all just fun and games until it wasn't.

  
  


⟸⟸⟸⟸ 

  
  
  


Minhyuk's always been a player-- well, _kind of._ People often tell him he's pretty, and he knows he's pretty, so why not take advantage? It's not as if he's out there breaking people's hearts (at least, not _intentionally_ ). He's like a hiker, staying the night and leaving no trace behind when he leaves in the morning. 

It's _always_ been like that.

Until it wasn't.

Truth be told, even after a couple of meetings, he's never really seen Ilhoon as anything more than just a pretty face. He's sure there's substance there -- lots of it, probably -- if he actually tried looking. But as with all his other conquests, Minhyuk's never stayed long enough for substance to surface. 

Ilhoon’s a different case.

A completely different one, in the sense that Minhyuk didn’t even have to wait for substance. The first instance they’d spent time together was merely a few hours, but those few hours were intimate enough to warrant _even more hours._

And more.

Until Minhyuk has to stop and remind himself that this is _not_ what he does.

And even more.

Until Minhyuk realizes that it’s probably too late. 

He feels like he’s falling -- has already fallen -- for that young model with sharp eyes and a soft smile. And he really shouldn’t have, because he was never prepared for the commitment falling in love entails.

Minhyuk used to leave no trace behind-- he used to _want_ to leave no trace behind. Yet he finds himself leaving more than a couple of shirts and a pair of jeans at Ilhoon's studio apartment. He stopped short of leaving love notes on Ilhoon’s fridge, which barely had anything inside except for when his older sister came over and stocked him up on food. 

(“No wonder you’re so thin,” Minhyuk jokingly comments the first time he stayed over long enough for breakfast. “You don’t even have anything we can cook.”

“Someone used to cook for me.” Ilhoon shrugs. “I used to live with Minjoo-noona, too. She was in charge of food.”)

But see, being too aware of the traces he leaves (or doesn't leave, for that matter) has made him conscious of the traces other people leave as well.

It's a wonder, really, how it's only now that he's realizing the traces left behind by someone else, too. He used to think Ilhoon just liked wearing clothes that are surely a few sizes too big, or just really liked collecting mugs even though he doesn't drink much coffee, or just forgot to dispose of his old toothbrush. He just assumed that when Ilhoon said someone used to cook for him, it was his older sister before she got married. 

Only now does Minhyuk understand.

Now that he’s already standing by the door to the studio he made an effort to find and ask around, because he wanted to surprise Ilhoon, and maybe officially ask him out. Turns out, he’s the one surprised. Because just like he was never prepared for the commitment falling in love comes with, he’s not prepared for heartbreak either, and for the traces it's bound to leave on his own heart.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!  
> here is [jijal's fic](https://archiveofourown/works/), please read it too if you haven't yet!
> 
> [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/crashingfalling)


End file.
